


The Story of Keith

by dreamerfound



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternative Perspective, Gen, Minor Character(s), POV Minor Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 07:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11847141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamerfound/pseuds/dreamerfound
Summary: A curse isn't always a bad thing for everyone. Keith, the former Sheriff of Nottingham has alternative view of things.





	The Story of Keith

Do you ever feel that you aren’t in control of your own life? That maybe, there are greater forces at work, pushing you in certain directions no matter what you do? That even when you do try to stere your life in the opposite direction, the powers that be keep turning you around? Join the club.

I used to feel like that all of the time. I felt trapped in a role. One that was chosen for me, by someone who didn’t like me very much. It wasn’t even a staring role either, just some bit part, soon to be forgotten. 

I used to think I was important. Back in Sherwood Forest I seriously thought I was the good guy. Maybe not quite a hero, but definitely not the villain. I was the sheriff, my nemesis, a thief. Robin Hood stole my woman and made me a laughing stock. He was the bad guy, not me. I was the wronged party. That was the way I saw it back then. But it turns out, that Robin was the hero all along. I was just some asshole. Not even important enough to be considered a top tier villain.

Then I learned that I was right. Not only was I was living in a story. I was a story. Turns out we were all stories. It took getting cursed into a town called Storybrooke for me to figure that one out. Fate has a sense of humor it seems. I guess whoever was writing my story was an asshole too. 

The curse came and I ended up with an new identity in a new world along with everyone else from the Enchanted Forest. Just about anyways. Now, I know the whole curse thing sounds like a bad thing, but for me, not so much. Being Keith was a lot better than being Nottingham. Sure everything stood still for twenty-eight years but it wasn’t as if I had anyone in my life left to lose. I had already lost everything. Losing my old identity ended up being a blessing. 

Once the curse broke I ended up with both the old me and the curse me in my head. That was hard. Confusing. For a while I just lost myself in booze. But after a run in with Mr. Gold I decided to get my shit together. It wasn’t easy, but I did it. Not that anyone really noticed, but that was good too. Not being a main character can be a good thing, especially if you can learn to stay out of the way of the major players. Stick to close to them and you’re likely to get burned. Look what happened to Robin Hood? He fell in love with Queen Regina and it all seemed destined for happily ever after, but then he got swept up into her sister drama and it went all downhill from there. I never liked the man, but what happened to him? Yeah, I wouldn’t wish that on my worst...well him. It was really best to stay in the background if possible. 

I started therapy with Archie. He really helped me a lot, I don’t care if he used to be a cricket. He knows his stuff. He even pointed me in the direction of a support group that was meeting a couple times a month. Turns out that I wasn’t the only one having trouble dealing with the post curse confusion of dual identities. It was good to talk to people that understood what I was going through. I even made some friends. I really started to get my head on straight. Then of course the big guns did what they do best and I ended up back in the enchanted forest again, dressed in my old clothes even. Everyone said it was going to be forever, I was not happy about that at all. That sucked. I didn’t want to be Nottingham. I liked being Keith. I didn’t want to fall back into my old ways, but it was hard. Being back there where it all began made it harder. 

Then I was back in Storybrooke with yet another curse. This one the so called good guys cast, if you can believe it. They had their reasons of course, they always do. Honestly I was just happy to be back in Storybrooke. I didn’t care that I didn’t remember my time in the Enchanted forest. If I had my way I would have never taken those memories back. It had been so hard not to be that guy. I wasn’t always successful. More often than not, I was an asshole. A drunken asshole. It was easier back in Storybrooke. I could be Keith again there. I didn’t have to be an asshole. I even quit drinking again. Coffee’s my drug of choice now. I love the stuff.

I hope we’re back in Storybrooke for good. It’s hard to tell. There were other curses. They didn’t really effect me much though. We did get an influx of new people in town. New people who never knew the old me. I made more friends. It’s kind of weird. I have a life here. No one calls me by my old name. It’s good.

Is there still someone out there pulling my strings? I don’t know, but I hope not. I like the idea of being the author of my own story. But, if I’m wrong, I just hope whoever is writing this stuff isn’t an asshole. I like this life, I’d like to keep living it.

**Author's Note:**

> written for trope_bingo Round #9  
> Prompt: Perspective Flip


End file.
